(Part 4 of 7 part series)
“T” is for Targeted
DAVNA’s A.C.T.I.V.E. Marketing concept highlights the six elements that make up an effective living-breathing branding campaign capable of maneuvering the economic roller coaster today’s entrepreneurs face in the consumer marketplace.
So far we have covered the Affordable and Current components that make up the A.C.T.I.V.E. Marketing Concept in our last two posts. This post will feature the Targeted component. So what is targeted marketing? Targeted marketing identifies the audience most likely to buy your particular services or products and promotes them to that audience where they are. The process of identifying and understanding how to reach your target audience and why they would want your product or service involves strategic research and fact-finding analysis. Without understanding the specific characteristics of your audience your marketing dollars are wasted in a hit or miss blanked outreach program.
Companies that offer specialized products or services typically benefit the most from using targeted marketing strategies. Focusing marketing efforts on specific groups who are more likely to respond increases the chances that the marketing efforts will be relevant to those groups. When marketing is relevant, people are more likely to spend money on that service or product.
Target marketing works for non-specialized products or services as well, especially if “value” is built into the product or service. Value is what can set even the most competitive product apart from the masses. Understanding and promoting that value to a targeted audience will gain increased market awareness and buy in.
Targeted marketing typically provides specific information and incentives to people, giving them a reason to choose that company over competitors in the same industry. A perfect example is Starbucks. Starbucks currently holds the largest market share of the coffee industry in the U.S. I myself find that I am drawn to Starbucks even though I know the prices are astronomical and find that the coffee is bitter. (I generally drink my coffee unsweet and black. Their lattes however are to die for!)
When I first started frequenting Starbucks I was part of their targeted demographic market of professional women and men between ages of 25 and 40 living in an urban area making a decent income. I was working 12-14 hours a day in a high stress job and Starbucks was my mainstay for helping me get through the day. Now that I am my own entrepreneur, Starbucks is my go to place for business meetings because of the status and comfortable atmosphere it provides. Starbucks knows this about me and therefore keeps me in their sights for marketing new products as they come available.
There are four key targeted marketing strategies that should be taken into consideration when attempting to identify your target market.
- Geographic Strategies find audiences in a certain location, such as a certain state or neighborhood.
- Demographic Strategies find audiences with certain characteristics like race, age or gender.
- Psychological Strategies look for desired personality attributes such as religion or previous purchases of a certain product.
- Attractiveness and Relative Ability – Once these elements have been identified, determining if the audience is likely to be interested in the specific product narrows the focus of the marketing campaign. This is evaluated in association with the ability of your company to meet your audience’s needs and wants.
Introducing a targeted marketing program
A targeted marketing plan generally starts with the identification of primary audience segments. For example, a retail collectible store offering comic books and collectibles might choose to perform market research to discover specifically who has the desire and the funds to invest in the products they offer. These individuals may be techno geeks working as engineers or programmers making a decent paycheck with disposable income. The audience may include gamers, movie enthusiasts, etc.
Once data is collected, individuals who are less likely to respond to their targeted marketing efforts are eliminated and the focus shifts to those who might be more interested.
Once your key audience has been identified, you can then deploy marketing efforts specifically at that audience. Potential marketing campaigns could include an integrated approach that includes both outbound and inbound methods such as print, broadcast, promotional emails, direct mail, text messaging, and online banner ads.
Once your sales and marketing campaign launches to the targeted market segments, it is important to follow the results of the campaign. Generally monitoring efforts are built into the overall campaign to allow the ability to track the effectiveness of the various marketing efforts. Based on the results you may want to change or beef up the format of the marketing campaign or expand defined target markets to improve future sales.
For FREE Customer Identification Worksheet designed to assist with identifying your IDEAL customer to help in your targeted campaign approach simply click on the link. In addition, we offer a FREE one-hour consultation if you have any specific questions.
DAVNA Enterprises specializes in building strategic Marketing programs that are A.C.T.I.V.E. For more information or to receive a copy of a full report on building a campaign for your company email info@davna.com with the subject line “ACTIVE Marketing Campaign Report”. We will gladly send the reports out to you free of charge.
DAVNA Enterprises, LLC is a Florida based firm specializing in the development and implementation of strategic operational, marketing and business development programs locally and internationally. Whether a new business starting out or an existing firm seeking increased market exposure, rebranding or repositioning, DAVNA brings more than 35 years of experience and the expertise needed to successfully develop and execute strategies designed to achieve your ultimate goals. For more information visit www.davna.com or email info@davna.com
